Varsko Homestead

This homestead is in the Northern
Reaches. It is used by the Varsko family as a trading house near
Norrvik, and is staffed by both family members and their hirees.
The homestead grounds include several fields for grazing animals, a
field of various vegetables, and a small grain field.

The Varsko family deals mainly in
luxury goods. Their biggest trade is furs, but they have abundant
imports of spices and choice meats. The homestead operates mainly
as a transfer point for the family's shipping. There are large
stable facilities for the incoming and outgoing shippers and there
is quite a bit of space for the members of these
caravans.

The Varsko family will ship most of
their merchandise through this office, because its proximity to
Norrvik gives them very up-to-date trade information. From here,
the head of the homestead will send the goods wherever they're
getting the best price. Those shots are called by Gnarth, with the
advice of the their family members who work here.

The complex consists of 1 two-story
building and another 3 one-story buildings along the outside. There
are three towers, and two of them frame the stables and
smithy.

The ground floor of building 1 is
mainly single rooms, used by the staff of the homestead. There is
also a kitchen, dining hall, and lounge. Upstairs is another
lounge, a double room for long-term guests, and two single rooms,
including the purser's room. The purser, Thibin Varsko, has a
secret room attached, where he keeps most of the house valuables.
The common room for the caravan workers is also here.

Building 2 is where Gnarth Varsko
stays, and next to him is his son, Juskin, heir apparent to the
stewardship of the Norrvik homestead. They have a private
dining/sitting room here, as well.

The twin towers on either side of
the stables have many storerooms. The east tower also has the
meeting hall for the staff, too. Upstairs are a pair of family
quarters. The east tower is the home of Gynnin and Freyla Varsko
(Gynnin is Gnarth's cousin) and their two children. Freyla is the
head of the ladies in the homestead, and Gynnin is responsible for
ensuring that all arriving and departing caravans are pointed in
the right direction.

The west tower is the home of Miskel
and Jaren Krynden. Jaren, Gnarth's sister, is the midwife and
veterinarian for the homestead. Miskel is the smith, and he is also
one of Gnarth's closest friends. They dine together frequently, and
spend much of their free time together. Though Miskel and Jaren
have no children, they do have Miskel's nephew - an orphan from the
troll wars - staying with them. The other bedroom is used for
guests.

Building 3 is the stables. There are
places for 10 horses, plus three open stalls for smaller animals
such as mules and livestock. The smithy at the end holds all manner
of tools normally found in a smithy. In addition, there is a
cabinet where veterinarian medicines are kept.

The three buildings in the centre of
the compound, 4-6, are used for travelling VIPs of the Varsko
family. They are simply furnished, and used fairly often for
housing the caravan masters as well as members of the
family.

The gatehouse has a set of
double-layer oak doors that are iron banded and reinforced with
steel strips on the inside. There are two rooms here for overnight
travellers who are not with the family business - they are rented
out to travellers who need a place to stay. The other side of the
gatehouse is a guardroom for the homestead. There are always three
men on duty here, usually with one of the sergeants.

The storeroom and meeting hall is a
wide open room that is used to store goods temporarily. They are
stacked against the walls as far toward the back as possible, to
leave as much room for meetings as they can arrange. More often
than not, the meetings are festive occasions. The Varsko family
celebrates all the major holidays, and often invents their own
celebrations during the year to have an excuse to party.

The main tower is five stories high,
and is used for many things. The ground floor holds an auxiliary
smithy, an extra bedroom, and several storerooms, two of which are
used for household storage, not goods for shipping. The second
floor is where the "main" treasury is kept; this one is for
appearances - most of the money is kept in building 1. The two
single rooms are used by the two sergeants for the guard force. The
third floor is where the guard force stays. They are all hired
guards, and they sleep here in double bunks and have their own
kitchen and lounge area. The fourth floor is used for storing
clothing, weapons, and armour, as well as furs during the warmer
months when they don't sell as well. The bedroom here is for Lance
Varsko, the head of the Varsko trading house and family business.
There is always a pair of guards on duty at the door of this tower.
They are not really to keep people out, but to help police the
interior of the compound and allow the gate guards to concentrate
on the gate.

The animal pens are where the family
keeps animals for the household - their own cows, goats, and sheep,
as well as draft horses.

The guards operate in 5-man shifts,
with a sergeant supervising them. They will work for 12 hours, then
have 12 hours off. Every week, five guards will come with one of
the caravans to trade places with the five guards here so that none
of the soldiers ever get bored by too much routine. The off-duty
guard are on their own time. The Varsko family has a company of
about 80 guards that they use to help escort caravans and secure
their trading houses. They all wear the family colours of red and
green, with a large white "V" sewn on their chest. Sergeants will
wear a chevron at the end of their sleeves, and lieutenants will
wear a star with a "V" superimposed on it in the same place.